HOME        GLOSSARY        RESOURCE AND ESSAYS        ART       LOGOS       CONTACT

Hellenismos is a natural philosophy.  It recognizes that the cosmos is governed by natural laws. Consequently, it does not bear an inherent conflict with science, unlike, generally, religions with creeds.  Science is the friend of natural philosophy.  Yet it is not wise to view science as creedal; science is somewhere on a continuum from ignorance to absolute knowledge.

The universe expresses divinity.  As an example of how the divinity of the phenomenal world is viewed in Hellenismos, in Plato's Republic [1], Socrates speaks of the natural world:

"Socrates:  Sight being, as I conceive, in the eyes, and he who has eyes wanting to see; colour being also present in them, still unless there be a third nature specially adapted to the purpose, the owner of the eyes will see nothing and the colours will be invisible.

Glaucon: Of what nature are you speaking?

Socrates: Of that which you term light.

Glaucon: True.

Socrates: Noble, then, is the bond which links together sight and visibility, and great beyond other bonds by no small difference of nature; for light is their bond, and light is no ignoble thing?

Glaucon: Nay, the reverse of ignoble.

Socrates: And which of the Gods in heaven would you say was the lord of this element?  Whose is that light which makes the eye to see perfectly and the visible to appear?

Glaucon: You mean the Sun (ed. Ælios; Gr. Ἥλιος), as you and all mankind say."

Here we see the Sun called a God. The Sun is (viewed as) a deity and one expression of the natural world. Gods and Goddesses such as Zeus, Hera, Apollo, and many others, are personal deities with consciousness, yet they are natural beings of the cosmos.  The Olympian Gods have dominion over the Twelve Zodiacal signs. The zodiac expresses the nature of the Gods and the cosmos. We are not here referring to the common concept of the zodiac as used for casting fortunes, but we are speaking of a profound view of the zodiac as an expression of the phenomenal universe.

"But inasmuch as the Sun wards off the evils of the earth, they called him Heracles (from his clashing against the air) in passing from east to west. And they invented fables of his performing Twelve Labours, as the symbol of the division of the signs of the zodiac in heaven; and they arrayed him with a club and a lion's skin, the one as an indication of his uneven motion, and the other representative of his strength in 'Leo' the sign of the zodiac."  [2]

The Natural Laws of the Olympians (ΟΙ  ΦΥΣΙΚΟΙ  ΝΟΜΟΙ  ΤΩΝ  ΟΛΥΜΠΙΩΝ  ΘΕΩΝ) are those which govern cosmogonic progress (pröodos), the evolution of the cosmos.  They also govern the evolution of souls and divinity.  The Natural Laws are not Nature itself.  They function within Nature.  They are the laws which govern progress or evolution, in particular, the evolution of the soul.  The laws are named and described in an effort to help us understand and work with natural evolutionary processes in the cosmos.  Yet, the laws are not merely a teaching tool; they are powerful forces and events that can be observed in the phenomenal world.  It is conceivable that any logical person could discover these laws, at least through the ninth law, without any instruction whatsoever, as they are self-evident.

The Natural Laws are an expression of the interaction of the two cosmogonic substances, and how this interaction causes an evolution.  We call this Mystic Materialism.  The cosmos consists of two primary substances, what is called cosmological dualism.  These substances have various names, but we here will refer to them as Earth and Water, what are called the two cosmogonic principles.  

What is before the genesis of the cosmos?  Orpheus says that this state is not able to be expressed; it is unutterable.  Therefore, it is called the Unuttered Principle.  It is also called the Primordial Mixture.  It is out of the Primordial Mixture that Earth (female, receptive, divided) and Water (male, active, continuous) arise. From this stagnant but pregnant situation, Earth (Gaia, Gr. Γαῖα, ΓΑΙΑ), what Pythagoras calls daring (tolma, Gr. τόλμᾰ, ΤΌΛΜᾸ), Moves out of Necessity (Ananke, Gr. Ἀνάγκη), then Life pulses attracting Energy, which assumes Form, and so forth through Attraction, Progress, Co-Influence, Harmony, and Freedom (see below).  The last three natural laws occur in the realm of divinity and will not be discussed in this essay. 

From this perspective, we can see the laws as an expression of the formation of the cosmos.  Yet there are many circles of the laws, spiraling out endlessly. Another circle of the laws governs the creation of the soul.  At the ninth level, the soul has been harmonized from the struggles of life and it is given Freedom.  Such a soul is a complete soul, for it is free, even if this soul is but a tiny amoeba.  The laws continue and spiral out again and again through the progression of rebirths, i.e., reincarnation (palingænæsía; Gr. παλιγγενεσία, ΠΑΛΙΓΓΕΝΕΣΊΑ).  The soul evolves (pröodos) through more and more spirals of the laws until it achieves the human birth.  And from the first human birth there are many more human births.  With tremendous effort, the human soul is capable of attaining great virtue (arete) and through the spirals of laws, and the influence of the Gods, eventually may achieve deification (Ektheosis), whereby the deified soul then may enter the realm of the final three laws.

The Natural Laws are great forces; they are actually Gods, but they are impersonal deities.  Mortal beings find it difficult to communicate with impersonal forces, but are much more able to communicate with beings who have consciousness.  Therefore, it is expedient for the Gods to assume command over the laws for which each deity has particular expression and concern.  The Olympian Gods are personal Gods who have consciousness.  They assist the function of each law with magnificent ability. In connection with their dominion over the zodiac, each Olympian God and Goddess has governance over a particular natural law.  They have dominion over every aspect of life, mortal, divine, vegetative, and beyond the earth; they are the guardians of nature.  They exercise ministry over the Natural Laws, for the harmonic concordance of these laws of nature, and they provide a means by which mortal beings can communicate with these laws. Each one of these laws represents the way in which the particular Olympian God or Goddess works on the soul to help it to progress, through all the various forms of life, and for those who achieve monumental arete, they guide the soul to Deification.  

THE TWELVE NATURAL LAWS OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS

The Two Laws of Earth:

1.  The Natural Law of Movement - Hestia - Libra

2.  The Natural Law of Life - Ares - Scorpio

The (ten following) Laws of Æther:

3.  The Natural Law of Energy  - Artemis - Sagittarius

4.  The Natural Law of Form - Hephaestos - Capricorn

5.  The Natural Law of Eros or Attraction [3] - Hera - Aquarius

6.  The Natural Law of Progress or Evolution (pröodos) - Poseidon - Pisces

7.  The Natural Law of Co-Influence - Athena - Aries

8.  The Natural Law of Harmony - Aphrodite - Taurus

9.  The Natural Law of Freedom - Apollon - Gemini

For those souls who have achieved deification, the cycle begins again in the Divine World:

10.  The Natural Law of Movement in the Divine World - Hermes - Cancer

11.  The Natural Law of Life in the Divine World - Zeus - Leo

NOTES:

[1] Plato's Republic, Book VI, 508; translated by Benjamin Jowett, 1892; found in the 1937 Random House edition of The Dialogues of Plato, Vol. One, p.769.

[2]  Porphyry On Images, Fragment 8, excerpt, translated by Edwin Hamilton Gifford.

[3] Eros is usually associated with Aphrodite. This is the common belief. Nonetheless, Eros/Attraction is the dominion of Hera.  

"For what purpose would God perform a miracle?  To accomplish some particular design upon living beings!  He would then in reality be supposed to say: 'I have not been able to effect by my construction of the universe, by my divine decrees, by my eternal laws, a particular object; I am now going to change my eternal ideas and immutable laws, to endeavor to accomplish what I have not been able to do by means of them.'  This would be an avowal of his weakness, not of his power; it would appear in such a being an inconceivable contradiction.  Accordingly, therefore, to dare to ascribe miracles to God is, if man can in reality insult God, actually offering him that insult."  Voltaire

PLEASE NOTE:  Throughout the pages of this website, you will find fascinating stories about our Gods.  These narratives are known as mythology, the traditional stories of the Gods and Heroes.  While these tales are great mystical vehicles containing transcendent truth, they are symbolic and should not be taken literally.  A literal reading will frequently yield an erroneous result.  The meaning of the myths is concealed in code.  To understand them requires a key.  For instance, when a God kills someone, this usually means a transformation of the soul to a higher level.  Similarly, sexual union with a God is a transformation.

PHOTO COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:  The many pages of this website incorporate images, some created by the author, but many obtained from outside sources.  To find out more information about these images and why this website can use them, visit this link:  Photo Copyright Information

DISCLAIMER:  The inclusion of images, quotations, and links from outside sources does not in any way imply agreement (or disagreement), approval (or disapproval) with the views of HellenicGods.org by the external sources from which they were obtained.

Further, the inclusion of images, quotations, and links from outside sources does not in any way imply agreement (or disagreement), approval (or disapproval) by HellenicGods.org of the contents or views of any external sources from which they were obtained.